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King's Rugby - The Wrap Up (Saturday 10 June)

12Jun2017

Monday 12 June 2017

King’s played a successful weekend of rugby with wins from the majority of our teams. Our First XV came away from Aorere College with a 19-0 win, defending their position at the top of the table and their tryline throughout the match.

Difficult conditions resulted in several handling errors and meant the boys were unable to pick up the bonus point, awarded when a team scores four tries.

Tries were scored by prop Zoan Patua, wing Epeli Ula and centre Lukas Halls with two conversions to first five-eighth Zarn Sullivan.

Our side did not pick up any major injuries going into next weekend, when we travel across to Auckland Grammar School to defend the Cooper-Greenbank Trophy.

The coaches will be working very hard with the players this week to prepare for our match against Auckland Grammar School to secure a rare back-to-back victory against our oldest and most-respected rivals.

Full Reports

We arrived at Aorere College with the sun shining and clear blue skies. By the second half of the game, the wind had picked up and the rain was coming in sideways. The seasonal weather change was a huge contributor to what only can be described as 'a game of two halves'. We travelled to Aorere College with the goal of picking up the maximum five points; the bonus point awarded when a team scores four tries.

Unfortunately, we were only able to score three first half tries to prop Zoan Patua, wing Epeli Ula and centre Lukas Halls with two conversions to first five-eighth Zarn Sullivan for a halftime lead of 19-0. Although confident that we would score a fourth try in the second half to pick up the bonus point, we played the majority of the second half camped inside our own 22m and were unable to add to our halftime score.

The bad weather meant that the field started to cut up and Aorere used the wind well to pin us down inside our own half. We had several opportunities to open them up but poor passing, poor finishing and not adapting to the conditions meant we left there with four points for the win but without the much-desired bonus point. To the boys' credit, the defense was strong and Aorere rarely threatened our tryline. Perhaps one of the other important factors to come out of the game was that we did not pick up any major injuries going into perhaps our biggest and most traditional game of the season when we travel across to Auckland Grammar School next Saturday to defend the Cooper-Greenbank Trophy that was won last season.

The coaches will be working very hard with the players this week to prepare for our match against a much-improved Auckland Grammar School team to secure a rare back-to-back victory against our oldest and most-respected rivals.

Twelve unforced errors in the first half handed numerous opportunities to St Peter’s College and it was appropriate they led 3-12 at halftime with two well taken tries from King's turnovers.

At 6-15 with 12 minutes to go, the game result seemed certain. Brave defence had limited the St Peter’s chances, but King's was not able to achieve anything with the ball in hand. But then a well taken opportunity by captain, Oliva Mason, from a lineout saw him power his way to the line and then convert from the sideline and set up an exciting last few minutes 13-15 behind.

King's finally retained ball and forced their way towards the opposition 22m. The pressure was rewarded with St Peter’s infringing in front of the posts and Mason cooly kicked the winning goal as the final whistle sounded.

The King's lineout shone, with hooker Wairoa Morris hitting every one perfectly. Billy Coman, Laith Hammond and Sam Ludbrook were dominant. Josh Gellert and Weropuna Witika were outstanding in defence and around the ruck. Luke Tuhaka had to leave the field at halftime after bravely pulling off a tremendous tackle on the huge St Peters wing.

Play of the day was the try saving tackle of Oliva Mason, which ultimately saved the game. An aimless kick from St Peter’s was not gathered by us and kicked through for their speedy winger to collect. Somehow Mason worked across the field and forced him into touch as he dived for the try.

Next week we have the difficult assignment of playing De La Salle College away.

The King’s College Colts carried on their good defensive form from a couple of weeks ago into their game against De La Salle College. Quick service from half back Joe Marr to his outside backs and forwards put De La Salle in the back foot which enabled our team to dominate through out the game.

Another sound forward performance from Tom Ludbrook, Jamie Kennelly and Harry Lee, with Tamati Panaho, George Brown and Amorangi Kuka having solid games as well. Great to see Seb Mines and Jimmy Jay making their debut on the field in the weekend back from injury. In the end, this was a hard fought win for the boys.

We were up 17-7 at half time and turned with the wind at our backs. We scored three very good tries and had control of the game. Our defence in the first half was very good and our line speed had Auckland Grammar School under tremendous pressure. However, in the second half we turned over too much ball and did not score the decisive try that would have won us the game. Auckland Grammar scored two late tries to earn a 17-17 result.

The team played a solid first half against Macleans College with direct rugby by the forwards and then the backs feeding the ball into space to score out wide. In the second half, there were several errors and dropped balls.

They boys still scored eight tries and won the match convincingly. We look forward to the challenge of playing Saint Kentigern College next week at home.

King's set out from the start to apply the training from our previous week and highlights were the support play, the draw and pass, and the pattern being applied through the match. A great week of training lies ahead to keep this momentum going.

6A wandered down the Waikato expressway to play Te Kauwhata on Saturday. It was great to go to a new venue and play new opposition (and get a new experience) and even better to come away with a victory.

King's scored 11 tries in total with Peter Whyte scorching away in the first minute and Tim Jones burning the outside channel in the last minute to book-end a pretty emphatic performance. Cole Jordan and Harry Holdsworth on the wings were brilliant and scored a number of excellent long-range runs with nine of the tries going to the backs.

Nathan Robinson's conversion attempts were excellent in the conditions and he made a number of difficult kicks to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

All in all it was a convincing effort even though the referee tried his best to disrupt the momentum of the game.

We look forward to our toughest assignment of the year next week against St Peter's College.

7th Grade Rangitoto College 38-14 to King’sTries: SixConversions: Four

Rangitoto College offered good competition especially in the first half, where after 15 minutes the score was 14-14. However, after an inconsistent start, the team began to dominate all areas of the game and in the end generated a well deserved victory. It is pleasing to observe the steady improvements in skills and the development of putting together phases without error. Maintaining this progress will result in satisfying outcomes throughout the remainder of the season.